A traffic study approved by Vicksburg officials Monday might be the first step in determining whether a connector road between Wisconsin Avenue and North Frontage Road will be allowed by state highway officials, said City Engineer Garnet Van Norman.

“We have to do a traffic study to see what the traffic volume will be,” he said.

The study will be performed by Mendrop-Wages, a project management, civil engineering and surveying consultant firm based in Ridgeland.

The road would again allow cars to reach Wisconsin from the frontage road and vice versa. For many years, that was done via a road that provided access from Wisconsin to the former Battlefield Village mall, now the site of Blackburn Motor Company. That road was blocked off and closed at least 15 years ago.

Van Norman said the proposal is the first step in seeing the connection established again. A route hasn’t been decided. “We have no design and no concepts yet,” he said.

After standing for 42 years, the latter of which it was an eyesore along Interstate 20, Battlefield mall, Vicksburg’s first all-weather shopping center, was demolished in 2005. The 23 acres where it sat was redeveloped to house Blackburn Motor Company dealerships, which joined an already bustling corridor for car dealerships and other retail along North Frontage Road.

While Van Norman believes the connector road will be beneficial, he said a timeline won’t be set until a plan is handed to officials of the Mississippi Department of Transportation, which has control over whether city streets can intersect state-maintained roads.

“This is only the first step,” he said. “We do this, MDOT looks at it and that’s when you see what you’re getting into.”